INSIDE THE BEARS.

After 2 starts, Stewart seeking rhythm

August 18, 2003|BY DAVID HAUGH.

In the first two quarters of the Kordell Stewart era in Chicago, the Bears' starting quarterback has completed 10-of-16 passes for 67 yards. His longest completion was a 30-yarder to Marty Booker on Saturday that was a fluke because a defender hit Stewart's arm.

In 30 snaps spread over five series in two games, the No. 1 offense behind Stewart has averaged 4.2 yards per play--not exactly numbers that make anyone wonder if the new Soldier Field scoreboard has enough wattage to handle the Bears' offense. In fact, last year the Bears averaged 4.5 yards per play.

But as fans and media pounce on every morsel of information to find meaning during a Bears preseason lacking drama, Stewart preached patience.

"We've only had about [five] series together, and we have six points," he said. "Right now it's just a matter of, for me, to get comfortable and get the kinks out, and once we get a game plan and get into the rhythm of what's taking place. . . . Granted, we are doing that, but it's not a full game so you can't really base anything off that."

It's easier to judge individuals during preseason than entire teams or units because so much of football depends on pacing, chemistry and game management. Stewart and the rest of the offensive starters would like to play more to develop those intangibles, but they have been around long enough not to overreact to any statistical analyses performed in August.

He and the rest of the No. 1 offense expect to see more action Friday night when the Bears travel to Arizona to play the Cardinals in the third exhibition game, traditionally the time starters play most.

"It's not up to me--coach [Dick] Jauron's pretty much going to make that call," Stewart said. "But I'm pretty sure we're going to get more time because we're getting closer and closer to the big game."

Good insurance plan

Rookie Rex Grossman rebounded from a rocky debut to complete 6-of-9 passes for 89 yards, and he nearly had Bears fans buzzing with a TD bomb to Bobby Wade that was underthrown and batted away by Chris Young.

"It looked like he just pulled back a little on the deep ball," Jauron said. "He clearly saw it, thought he had it all the way and eased up just a fraction on it. But every snap he plays, it seems like he gets better and more comfortable."

Said Grossman:

"The line did a great job of blocking for me, and I was more at ease. I may have acted calm and poised last week, but I really wasn't. [Saturday] I anticipated things and reacted."

The importance of Grossman's development behind Stewart and Chris Chandler was reinforced by the news that Atlanta's Michael Vick broke his right fibula and will miss six weeks. The grim reminder: Teams that live with mobile starting quarterbacks, as the Bears do, live dangerously.

Scout's honor

This week the Bears return to Halas Hall for a 10 a.m. practice Monday. The defense will incorporate a scouting report on the Arizona Cardinals and go through a dry run of the team's entire scouting process.

"It's just to expose them to it just to see it one time before the opener," defensive coordinator Greg Blache said.

Lots of Green

With the running game dormant, safety Mike Green supplied the best run Saturday on his second-quarter interception return of a Jake Plummer pass. Green caught Plummer's overthrow at the 11-yard line and rambled 43 yards, breaking several tackles and displaying the most obvious open-field ability of the evening.

"I really thought I had a chance to take it to the house after I broke a few tackles," Green said. "Coaches are really stressing for us to get more touchdowns as a defense this season, so I was really determined to get that in the end zone."